Slow Cooker Beef Ramen

SLOW COOKER BEEF RAMEN — Tender chunks of beef are slow cooked with mushrooms in a flavorful broth, then combined with snow peas and ramen noodles in this light yet hearty soup.

If you live with teenage boys or know any college students, you know that Ramen is a staple food with that demographic. I like to think of this Slow Cooker Beef Ramen as a more sophisticated, grown-up version of that classic, inexpensive meal.

It really doesn’t take a lot of effort to add a gourmet touch to Ramen noodles, especially when you simmer everything in your slow cooker. The result is a light yet filling soup that the whole family will enjoy.

Yes, even the teenage boys who are more accustomed to the cheaper version of Ramen will love this. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never known a teenage boy to complain about adding beef to anything.

Although, based on my experience, some kids may opt to pick out the mushrooms.

This recipe starts with searing your beef stew meat before adding it to the slow cooker. Yes, it’s an extra step, and yes, you could skip it. But those few extra minutes spent searing your beef make a huge difference in the flavor of the finished product.

I highly recommend that you don’t skip browning the meat! Then all that’s left to do is add some broth, seasonings and vegetables to the slow cooker. Come back 8 hours later and you having an amazing soup ready to eat.

Rather than adding your noodles right to the slow cooker, you place cooked noodles in individual bowls and ladle the soup over top. I love using this method to serve almost any soup with noodles because if you have left overs, the noodles don’t sit in soup broth and get soggy.

You can look for fancier packages of Ramen noodles at the grocery store, but since I have a stockpile of the cheap ones, that’s what we used. Honestly, I think it would be hard to tell the difference, and it was certainly good enough for the folks at my house!

In a pinch you could even use cooked spaghetti or linguine. Either way, this is a heartwarming meal that will satisfy Ramen lovers everywhere!

Slow Cooker Beef Ramen

Tender chunks of beef are slow cooked with mushrooms in a flavorful broth, then combined with snow peas and ramen noodles in this light yet hearty soup.

Ingredients

2 pounds stew meat

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 small onion, diced

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh chopped ginger

8 cups low-sodium beef broth

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

8 ounces snow peas

1 tablespoon lime juice

3-4 green onions, chopped

3-4 packages ramen noodles

Fresh chopped cilantro, for garnish

Chile oil, for garnish

Instructions

Season stew meat with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add stew meat, working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, and sear until well browned. Transfer to a lightly greased slow cooker.

Add the onion, garlic, ginger, beef broth, mushrooms, soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil to the slow cooker with the beef. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

About 30 minutes before serving, add the snow peas, lime juice and green onions to the slow cooker and stir to combine.

Meanwhile, cook the Ramen noodles according to package directions. Place cooked noodles in individual bowls and ladle the soup over top. Garnish with chopped cilantro and a splash of chile oil, if desired.